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Set your phasers to stun with this summer’s Outdoor Star Trek performances

Hello Earth Productions marks its third annual “Outdoor Star Trek” performances starting this weekend. The performances will be July 27th at 7pm, July 28th at 2pm, August 3 at 7pm, and August 4 at 2pm in Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park’s amphitheater. They’ll be performing “The Devil In The Dark,” the 26th episode of the first Star Trek season.

Hello Earth has more details:

The classic episode has the crew of the Enterprise investigating a mysterious monster, only to discover a new life form called a Horta. Joy DeLyria directs, and the show features Kris Hambrick as Captain James T. Kirk, Helen Parson as Mr. Spock, and live music. The show is free and open to the public.

Outdoor Trek is a community project which celebrates the diversity of the original series, while at the same time adapting it to the 21st century, outdoor theater, and community. The inspiration is half sci-fi, half Shakespeare. Shakespeare in the park is a well-loved tradition, offering free theater, a social gathering in the sunshine, and a familiar, classic story. Hello Earth presents a new classic, just as beloved, only this time in outer space.

“The Devil In The Dark” was written by Gene L. Coon, and was the twenty-sixth episode of the first season. It is highly regarded among fans, memorable due to the strange and yet compelling life form known as the Horta. Arthur C. Clarke said of the episode, “It impressed me because it presented the idea, unusual in science fiction then and now, that something weird, even dangerous, need not be malevolent.” Hello Earth uses this idea to promote the themes of diversity and understanding inherent in Star Trek, which can be seen not only in the friendly-yet-terrifying Horta, but through cast, props, and sets. In a world of infinite diversity, Kirk and Spock can be played by women, beach balls can be alien eggs, and phasers can be water hoses. Star Trek is a dream of the future brought to you by your TV screen; Hello Earth brings that dream to your backyard.

Hello Earth recommends that attendees bring cushions, as the amphitheater is made of concrete. Though there is no charge to attend, the production company does accept donations.